Johann Ulrich von Eggenberg

(1568 - 1634)

Baroque aristocrat and
diplomat

He came to Bohemia from
Styria after the Battle of White Mountain, when in 1622 emperor
Ferdinand II.
von Habsburg gave him the Český Krumlov estate and castle as a
reimbursement for lent money. For his service to the emperor he
received the title of duke and prince - he took part as the
emperor´s private counselor during diplomatic negotiations as well
as holding many offices at the imperial court as the president of
the secret state cabinet. He was permitted to coin his own
Eggenberg coins from 1625. He laid the foundations of the wide
Eggenberg estates on the South of Bohemia.